OWEN FARCHIONE

B.S. Cornell University, 2023

Since being diagnosed with celiac disease, I've had to think about my small intestinal microenvironment and all of the factors that can influence it, gut bacteria being one of them. During undergrad, I entered the field of microbiome research by developing fluorescent imaging strategies to map complex biofilms in the De Vlaminck Lab at Cornell University. Our goal was to stain for mobile genetics elements and 16s rRNA in order to map individual cells to their taxonomy, a strategy which could be used to study how antibiotic resistance spreads throughout a microbial community. I spent a summer in Ithaca developing an automated fluidics strategy to do sequential staining overnight and detect multiple mobile genetic elements in one field of view.

After transitioning into graduate school, I've now narrowed my focus to a single type of bacteria, Segmented Filamentous Bacteria (SFB). SFB are gut commensals known to attach to host intestinal epithelial cells and induce a potent Th17 response. I am currently investigating the bacterial mechanisms behind SFB's attachment and immunostimulation. When I'm not in lab, I love watching films, listening to music, and playing DnD with friends.

Publications:

Grodner B, Shi H, Farchione O, Vill AC, Ntekas I, Diebold PJ, Wu DT, Chen C, Kim DM, Zipfel WR, Brito IL & De Vlaminck I.
Spatial mapping of mobile genetic elements and their bacterial hosts in complex microbiomes. Nature Microbiology. 2024